Chapter 37
‘Zombification.’
In the ancient Voodoo Cult, it was a punishment imposed on those who committed serious crimes such as serial murder or child rape.
By mixing tetrodotoxin and crushed datura flowers, it was possible to create a ‘zombification drug.’ When the drug was applied to the skin, it would cause the criminal to fall into a coma-like state. Then, by casting enthrallment spells, the criminal would alternatingly suffer from pleasure and pain. After repeating this process five times, the brain, which would have gotten numb from the drugs and enthrallment spells, would degrade and lose its cognitive ability. Thus, the criminal would become a ‘zombie.’
Since their brains had degraded from the extensive pain and pleasure, zombies lacked intelligence and could not formulate words. They were more or less no different from livestock or animals in the form of human beings.
In the ancient Voodoo Cult, zombies created through this process were used as slaves.
[It was truly a barbaric punishment. It would have been better if it never existed.]
As Legba said, zombification was too much of a barbaric punishment. Thus, the modern Voodoo Cult banned zombification and labeled it as a forbidden technique. The reason for this ban was not just because it was such a violent and barbaric technique, but the biggest reason was that it was possible to abuse this technique.
"Haak! Haaaaaaaaaaak–!!!"
I stared at Yoon-Ah, who had become a zombie, with eyes filled with despair. In front of my eyes was a tragedy created as a result of Han Su-Yeop using the forbidden technique.
My chest felt so stuffed that I couldn’t even let out a sigh. Even though I was biting my lips until they bled, for some reason, there was no pain. Only the bitter taste of blood lingered in my mouth.
“Mr. Cult Leader.” while I was wallowing in despair for a long time, Ji-Ah called out to me. Only then did I finally come back to my senses. I stood up and shook off the dust that had collected on my clothes. I tried to smile, but the corners of my mouth refused to go up. It was difficult to even stand up because my legs felt so shaky. It felt like my heart had sunk into the abyss.
"I'll help you."
"It's alright. I can walk by myself."
I stopped Ji-Ah from trying to support me. Each step felt heavy, as if I was wading through a quagmire, but I somehow managed to continue walking forward. It wasn’t at a level where I needed support. Moreover, Ji-Ah was so short that I didn't think it would be of much help even if she supported me.
"Can you open the cage door?" I said as I pointed to the cage where Yoon-Ah was trapped using the candle.
“Yes. I can open it.”
“Then please, please open it.”
"But isn't there a zombie in the cage?"
"Yes. That's why I'm asking you to open the cage. I’m going to take her."
“You’re saying that you’re going to take the zombie?”
“Yes.”
Ji-Ah frowned and stared at me with a puzzled expression. It was understandable since there was no reason to take a zombie with us.
"However, there is no reason to do–”
“It’s someone I know.”
“Ah, okay.”
When I explained the situation to Ji-Ah, she hurriedly picked up the pile of keys and started opening the cage door. In less than a few seconds, the door opened with a snap.
"Kaaaack–!"
At that moment, Yoon-Ah rushed toward Ji-Ah. Ji-Ah was so shocked that she stiffened on the spot without even getting a chance to scream. I immediately unleashed Voodoo magic power and drew a spell array for the curse of fainting.
Plop.
A fog engulfed Yoon-Ah, and she collapsed unconscious.
Ji-Ah looked at the unconscious Yoon-Ah and collected her breath with a pale face. I took out Baal's Maw, opened the mouth widely, and placed Yoon-Ah inside.
I had thought that the mouth of Baal’s Maw was probably big enough to fit a person inside, but I never even dreamed that I would actually end up putting a person inside.
"Let's go back."
I helped up Ji-Ah, who had fallen down onto the floor. I placed Baal's Maw back into my pocket and walked out of the room, and then back down the route that we came in. Ji-Ah followed closely behind me with short strides.
* * *
"Oh, you're back?"
After passing through the long hallway, we returned to the underground chapel. Uncle greeted us with a wave. Han Su-Yeop still remained tied to a tree root. His face was swollen, and blood was flowing out of his nose and mouth.
While we were not here, Uncle seemed to have hit him quite a lot, but I didn’t feel sorry for him at all. Even if that bastard got beaten even more, I still would have nothing to say. I approached Han Su-Yeop and lifted up his head by grabbing his hair.
“Argh... Kagh! Ha. Haa... Haa, ha. Hello there, Mr. Cult Leader. An important guest has arrived in such a shabby place,” Han Su-Yeop said in a sarcastic tone. Saliva mixed with blood trickled out of his mouth.
I stared him dead straight in the eyes. They were shameless eyes that showed no sign of remorse. I wanted to dig those eyes out right this instant, but it was not yet the right time to do so. There was still a lot to ask.
"I'll ask you a question. You only have to answer."
"Yes, what is our Cult Leader so curious about?" Han Su-Yeop sarcastically retorted. He didn’t show any signs of fear, even with death looming over him. It was either because of resignation or arrogance.
I forcefully suppressed the anger that was bubbling up inside of me and stated, “I found something strange in that room.”
“What? The room? Don't tell me..." Han Su-Yeop's relaxed expression froze. He looked up at me with surprised eyes. His eyes looked to be completely bloodshot.
"You opened that door? How?"
"I lockpicked it,” Ji-Ah said while taking out a bundle of keys and shaking them.
Dozens of keys rattled around. Han Su-Yeop lowered his head in despair. I didn’t like the way he looked, so I grabbed Han Su-Yeop's hair tighter and lifted him up. Han Su-Yeop's face was distorted in pain.
“Aghhh...! Fine. If you’ve opened the door, then you must have taken all the money. What else is the problem–”
Snap.
The few remaining strands of hair on Han Su-Yeop's head broke off one by one.
"—Argggh! Let go, let go! All my hair will be pulled out!"
"Why the heck are you shouting like you’re in the right or something?"
"Argh. Fuck! What the hell did I do wrong then?"
"Zombification."
Han Su-Yeop's face hardened.
"There was a zombie in the room. That must mean you used 'zombification,' which is a forbidden spell."
"No, I'm—"
"Why did you make a zombie? What were you going to use it for?"
Han Su-Yeop didn't respond and just closed his eyes tightly. It was clear that he was determined not to give an answer. That meant that the only choice was to force him to answer.
I ejected Voodoo magic and drew a spell array. I was going to torture him with a spell just like Han Su-Yeop did to Yoon-Ah.
Before the spell could activate, Han Su-Yeop said, "...A sacrifice. I was going to use it as a sacrifice."
I recalled the spell array. As expected, this was the most effective way to negotiate.
"Keep talking."
“If any of the believers tried to run away or were disobedient, I would turn them into zombies and then sacrifice them.”
"Where are all those zombies?”
“They all burned to death since they were offered as sacrifices. That girl you saw was going to be sacrificed today.”
Han Su-Yeop spoke brazenly even as blood dripped from his mouth. I grabbed Han Su-Yeop's hair and shook it.
Rip.
With a tearing sound, a bunch of hair was ripped off. It was not particularly a meaningful action, but I just wanted to vent my anger.
“Jung Yoon-Ah.”
"Argh! What, what?"
"She's not just ‘that girl.’ Her name is Jung Yoon-Ah."
I corrected Han Su-Yeop's words. He looked absent-minded for a moment and soon smirked as if he understood the intent behind my words.
“So her name was Jung Yoon-Ah. I didn't know that. I didn’t need to know."
“This is something that I’ve been confused about since before, but why are you so brazen right now?”
"You're going to kill me anyway, aren't you?” Han Su-Yeop said while giggling scoffingly. One side of his mouth curled up and formed a smug grin. He had been acting strangely brazen and confident since earlier.
It didn’t look like he had a way out of this situation. He had simply given up and accepted death. However, I had no intention of killing Han Su-Yeop so comfortably.
"I'll kill you one day, but not now."
"You’re such a great saint. Don’t you know that the reason why the Voodoo Cult fell was because of that weak mentality?”
“The reason why the Voodoo Cult fell is because of you guys who ran away.”
“Ran away? No. We didn't run away. We made a choice."
"A choice?"
It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but laugh.
Han Su-Yeop continued, "It's because you don't know the situation at that time. For the survival of the Voodoo Cult, the sacrifice of a few was inevitable.”
"Wasn’t a bit too many to be considered a few?”
Tens of thousands of innocent Voodoo Cultists died because of the 'choice' that the executives made. It was by no means a few.
"Whether it's a few or many, that's not very important. What’s important is that the sacrifice was inevitable. The same goes for the many zombies I sacrificed. They were a necessary sacrifice for the greater good."
"Oh, I see."
Han Su-Yeop had the idea that as long as it was for the greater good, the sacrifice of a few or even many was justified. I had no idea what this high and mighty ‘greater good’ was supposed to be, but I wasn’t even curious. It didn’t matter what grand goal he had, as it didn’t change the fact that he didn’t have the right to sacrifice others against their will.
"A sacrifice for the greater good. I see what you mean."
"Yeah. I guess I understand now–"
“So that means you don’t mind if you sacrifice yourself for the sake of the greater good, right?”
I activated my Voodoo magic and drew a spell array with it. I used over half the amount of Voodoo magic I had on hand. A massive spell array formed by linking a combination of nineteen spell arrays in total was created.
[Is it a fusion spell? You've improved a lot.] Legba exclaimed.
Fusion spell.
It was literally a spell made by fusing several spells together.
Normal attendees found it difficult to cast even a single spell, and executives found it difficult to cast the most advanced ones. But as the Cult Leader, it was possible for me to combine and fuse a variety of different spells to create new ones.
To put it simply, it was a spell that only I, the Cult Leader, could use.
Of course, I couldn't use it often, either. Although fusion spells were powerful, they consumed large amounts of Voodoo magic power in return.
Soon, fog flowed out from the completed spell array. It was a purple-colored fog. The fog was so thick that, at first glance, it looked black instead of purple.
The fog soon hit Han Su-Yeop. "What are you doing? This is a fusion spe...!”
Han Su-Yeop screamed inside the fog, but the sound was soon cut off. It was because the activated spell had taken over Han Su-Yeop's mind.
"Please sacrifice yourself for the sake of the greater good. It's not like I don’t do things for the greater good either."
It’s not like I enrolled in Florence Academy without any thought. Becoming a prelate and meeting my mother again was simply just a stepping stone for a bigger and more ambitious goal. Indeed, the ‘greater good’ that Han Su-Yeop loved so much was something that I also strived toward. And Han Su-Yeop was going to become the first victim of this cause.
"Gaaaaaak! Gwaaaaaaaak!!” Han Su-Yeop screamed and vomited. Dozens of enthrallment spells, including the curse of pain, the curse of fainting, memory annihilation, and metastasis, gnawed at his brain.
He was the one who said that sacrifices for the greater good were inevitable, but when he became a victim, he let out an ugly scream and begged for his life.
I handed Baal's Maw to my uncle, who was watching the scene from behind.
"It'll be quiet in five minutes or so. When the time comes, put Han Su-Yeop in here too."
“Isn't he dead?”
After Han Su-Yeop vomited the residue left in his stomach, he vomited gastric juice because he had nothing to vomit, and he eventually started vomiting blood. His hands and feet were limp, and there was no focus in his eyes.
At first glance, it seemed like he was dead. But he wasn't dead.
"He’s alive. He’s only alive, though."
"He’s only alive, you say. Oh, that’s quite philosophical."
My uncle laughed for a moment after saying so, and then he observed Han Su-Yeop's demise with a blank expression on his face. Ji-Ah also watched the scene with a pale face.
As I approached, she shuddered and took a couple of steps back. Her face was full of fear.
"What time is it?"
Ji-Ah took out her watch and checked the time. It was a black digital watch with a cute design.
"It's four minutes past ten."
She spoke in a trembling voice. It was 10:04 p.m. I needed to go back and get some sleep. I didn’t know if I would be able to sleep well, though.
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com